Dear Soko: Should I Choose Products by Skin Type or Skin Concern?

Welcome to Dear Soko, a new series dedicated to answering your biggest skin care question with advice from Soko Glam’s skin experts. Whether you’re confused about specific ingredients or what you need to do to achieve healthier skin overall, these experts are here to guide you.

What should we pay attention to more when selecting a product, skin type or concern? For example, I’ve considered getting the Hanskin Cleansing Oil + Blackhead [PHA], but it is for those with normal skin types, so I’m hesitant to even try it for my oily to combination skin.

Also, what’s the best way to develop a routine? I’ve taken a few shots in the dark, and some worked out while some did not. What system have you developed to create routines?

Finally, when I have acne, it is mostly whiteheads, and sometimes they pop out when I wash my face. If that happens, should I extract the rest of it?

Skin care is such a unique experience for us all — that trial and error is inevitable. Even if you share the same skin type and concerns with another person, the same products may not always yield the same results.

The routines we put together take the guess work out of choosing your own items. But it’s completely personal choice if you want to follow the suggested routine to the T — or you may choose to incorporate the suggested products individually into your current routine to make it more personalized.

When developing your own routine, I would always advise to start off slow with the essential 5-step as a foundation, which includes double cleansing, toning, moisturizing, and protecting. After that, you can slowly introduce treatment products tailored to your concerns. We would suggest sticking to a consistent routine for 2-3 weeks, since this gives the products time to do their job — it’s a marathon, not a sprint!

While picking at acne and whiteheads is not encouraged, it happens to the best of us. I would advise to place an acne patch over the open wound to help absorb the rest of the infection and help speed up the healing process. In regards to the Hanskin Cleansing Oil & Blackhead [PHA], it is very much suitable for your combination/oily skin type with whitehead and acne concerns.

PHAs have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, and they’re very gentle exfoliators that can help loosen up dead skin cells, prevent pore clogging and refine the texture of your skin. When using this oil cleanser, I would advise to spend a couple of more minutes massaging it into your skin to reap all of it’s benefits.

I hope this helps! If you would like further guidance, we offer complimentary 1:1 Skin Consultations with our in-house Skin Experts. You can schedule them here.

Warmly,

Your Skin Expert

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